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Surgeon TestimonialStephen G. Boyce, M.D.Dr Boyce is extremely professional and caring. His staff is excellent. Although he did not perform my surgery, he is doing my followup, and I could not be happier. I just wish that I had him do the actual surgery! |
I am a 52 year old registered nurse. I have been overweight since the birth of my son, 30 years ago. I had a gastric stapling 25 years ago that failed. I had open Roux- N-Y surgery on December 21, 2007.
My Birthday on August 24, 2010 8:19 am
This Saturday I will celebrate (?) my 53rd birthday. Celebrate is definitely the wrong word for it. I dread it. Not for getting a year older, but for having an important day without my husband here. It has been 9 months since he died. 15 months since he got sick. Sometimes it seems like yesterday and sometimes it seems like a lifetime ago. What I do know is that I have not handled it well. All my old behaviors have resurfaced. I am an emotional eater, and I have used my grief, sadness, and anger as reasons to eat, eat, eat. My post op course has been fraught with problems without losing my husband- torn rotator cuff, spinal fusion, heel spurs, now torn achilles tendon, and more shoulder surgery, and another possible torn rotator cuff. But, before Ron's death, I didn't let those things hold me back, and I lost 150 pounds. After Ron's death, or at least during his illness and after his death, I couldn't get motivated for more than a few days, and I have gained a total of 39 pounds. I am currently drinking protein shakes all day, eating a lean cuisine for dinner, and riding my recumbent bike 5 days a weeks for 30-45 minutes each time. Hopefully that will jumpstart something for me. I plan to continue that for this week, then continue a low carb lifestyle and see what happens. As soon as approved by MD, I will start walking again. And, as soon as I can get my arms above my head, I will try swimming again. Maybe I can get my metabolism to working again.
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Life Changes on February 26, 2010 2:19 pm
My husband, the love of my life, my best friend, my biggest supporter, passed away November 19, 2009. I did all this for him. So we would have a long life together. So we could be healthy...together. Now I am having a difficult time caring. I suspended my support group for several months and even thought about abandoning it completely. I probably would have if I hadn't gotten about a gazillion telephone calls from preops looking for a support group. So I had one a couple of weeks ago. Part of me felt like a fraud since I have gained 30 pounds back and have little desire to get back on the bandwagon at this time. I am apathetic at best. Possibly, motivation will come back to me, but grief can be pretty overwhleming. If anyone thinks, "Well, she just needs to pick herself up by her bootstraps and get straightened out",They have never lost someone they REALLY loved. This loss is devastating me. It has been 3 months and I still can barely function. Last night was the first full night's sleep I have gotten in over 8 months. Anyway, I am trying to make a few baby steps back, but I know better than try to do too much or I will be overwhelmed and not try at all. I have too many decisions as it is. So I am taking it slow.
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Stress, stress, and bad times or confessions of a... on June 25, 2009 5:23 pm
Things have been going from bad to worse for my family since April. At first, things looked like they were really looking up. I started to work in pediatric oncology nursing at a pediatric hospital in mid April. I have been out of pediatric nursing for several years and one of my goals of WLS was to be able to get back into it. So-goal met!
But, within days of starting my new job, my husband who is a type II diabetic developed a wound on his foot which soon became cellulitis requiring a hospitalization and IV antibiotics. On June 1, while still at UT, it was found that his colon had perforated in 3 places and he had to have emergency surgery removing his colon. He was in ICU for 12 days and on a ventilator (breathing machine for 8 days) and was not expected to live. As of today, he is very slowly recovering, still in the hospital, and about to go to a rehab hosptital for strengthening.
Needless to say, this has caused stress with a capital S for me. The moment I heard the results of his tests, I knew he might die, and I knew at best, he was in for the struggle of his life. When I got to see him after hours of surgery and stabilization that night, his ICU nurse made this statement "Marilyn, it is good for me that you are a nurse because you will understand what I am telling you, but it is NOT good for you right now". He was exactly right. There were a thousand times over the next week that I wished for ignorance, but I didn't have that blessing and it made everything that much more stressful.
What did I do with that stress? I ate it. Since WLS, I have been fairly careful about my eating. Moderate is what I would call it. I don't believe in rigidity because I think that leads to worse problems later on. I believe in being sensible about what I eat. I make sure I get in my protein everyday, I take my vitamins, I watch my calories, I exercise. I eat protein first, then veggies. I eat fruit because I like it. I don't eat after 8 pm. I drink my water. I am not good about journaling my food. I try not to snack. I avoid bread unless it is "special" and then I make allowances for it. I eat sugar free desserts occasionally. Well, with Ron's illness, all that went out the window. I did take my vitamins. I got in some of my protein but not as much as usual because a lot of my protein comes from my daily protein coffee which I couldn't get in the ICU waiting room. I ate things with sugar and no, they did not make me dump. (Which is too bad) I drank way too much caffiene. I did not exercise unless you call pacing the waiting room and halls exercise.
Today I went to see my PCP. I had a sinus infection, exhaustion, and low BP. I was sure that I had gained at least 10 pounds. For whatever reason, I had only gained 2, or maybe it was 4. I can't remember. What I do know is, I have to get a handle on this before I am looking 316 pounds right in the face once again! so, starting July 1, I am BACK ON TRACK!
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The Importance of Live Support Groups (Posted on... on January 16, 2009 2:29 am
Post Date: 1/15/09 9:24 pm
I have just come from a great support group meeting in north Knoxville. We had about 40 people there. It is a group that was set up by the local Bariatric Center of Excellence but they allow anyone to attend, that's how I got there (and Betsy invited me!). Anyway, this same center also has a group set up in the little town that I live in. I went to it twice-it was terrible, a waste of time. So, since surgery, I have settled for online support, the occasional lunch bunch, or dinner club when I could travel the 3 1/2 hours to Nashville, and the support group at Gateway Hospital the night before my doctor's appts. Well, now that I am only seeing the doc twice a year, that really cut down on my live support.
Now to my topic. I have tried to keep a diary of sorts through this year, I was looking at it a few days ago, and realized I lost more weight and was "in a better place" emotionally when I was getting some type of face to face support. Hence, the visit today...and I will continue to go. So, OH is wonderful, fabulous, and has probably saved my life this year...but it is not enough. I don't think it really is for anyone. I have talked about eating addiction before. People in AA may get online support, but they still go to meetings. They know they need face to face acccountability to stay sober. I think we do too. I also think we really need to investigate several support groups, just like surgeons. There isn't a right "fit" at every one. For me, I want a support group that has a good deal of professional involvement. Ideally it would be moderated by a nurse or nutritionist, but if not, they would be there often to teach, challenge, and assess. The reason that I say this is because the support group I went to here in my little town was more a hindrance than a help. She was a lady who had had the surgery. She couldn't answer any questions. She could only read from her pre- pared sheet from the doctor's office. Also, when the postops started talking among themselves, they mostly talked about how to "cheat" the diet. Congratulating themselves on being able to. Not something a new postop or a preop needs to hear.
Once again, I may have opened a sticky wicket (what is that anyway?), but I want pre ops to give this some thought and preparation. I also want postops to know that they need real, live support. Lunch bunch and dinner club are fun-I LOVE going to them...but that is mostly what they are-camaraderie. Do them, but find a great support group as well. It is one of the big keys to success.
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One Year on January 14, 2009 4:17 am
Well, it has been a year. I went for my annual check up last week. The surgeon was very pleased with my weightloss. He did say that he wasn't sure that I would lose anymore. I am certainly planning to prove him wrong. He said that almost 100% of his patients never get to "normal" weight. I want to do just that. I am a little discouraged that I haven't made it to goal yet, and it gets harder everyday. The weight doesn't just fall off anymore. With the unexpected neck and shoulder surgeries and recovery this past year, I have not been able to exercise like I would have liked to. I am now back to riding my recumbent bike and hopefully soon I can REALLY exercise. I will probably hate it when I get to start, but for now, I am looking forward to it. I am also looking forward to going back to work in about 6-8 weeks. This year has not been what I expected. I guess I expected a whole new body. What I got was an abused 51 year old body that is much thinner and is now paying the price for my old ways. I wish I had done this surgery 20 years ago!
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Hi. As I said in my introduction, I am 50 years old. I have been a registered nurse for about 25 years. I am married to Ron, for 32 years!! I have a daughter, Erin, who is 27 and a son, Matt who is in heaven. He would be 29 years old. He was killed in a automobile accident when he was almost 22. I live in the Great Smoky Mountains area of Tennessee.
I started gaining weight when I started taking birth control pills. I stopped them and the weight came right off. Eventually, I got pregnant and I guess used that as a license to eat. I gained 100 pounds. I only lost about 15 after Matt was born. I attempted all kinds of diets, but couldn't lose more than 20 or 30 pounds. After my daughter was born, she became very ill and spent several months in the hospital. While this was going on, I gained more weight. By the time she was out of the hospital and I started nursing school, I weighed 270 pounds! After my first year of nursing school, I injured my back. While in the hospital for this, a surgeon came into my room and offered to do a gastric stapling. He had just learned how to do them. I agreed to it. There was no follow up, no support groups and no nutritionist involved. I had no knowledge at all about the surgery or post op. Needless to say, I failed, only losing about 30 pounds! I tried again in 2000 to lose weight and I did get down to 240, but then my son died and I gained all the way up to 314. I have lost down to my present 287, but can't seem to go lower. I now have diabetes and severe osteoarthritis. I need a right partial knee replacement, but am putting it off as long as possible. My insurance has an exclusion for weight loss surgery. (Can you believe that, I work for a healthcare organization!!) My husband's insurance has one too. So, we are going to private pay. That is how desperate I am for this surgery.
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